Brooder.



J. T. SHOWALTER.

BROODER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.9, 1912.

Pa tent ed. Jan. 5, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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, BROODER.

useful Improvements in Brooders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to brooders, and one object of the invention is to produce a device of this class in which the desired temperature may be maintained in cold lweather without resorting to the use of lamps or similar heating apparatus, thereby \avoiding danger of fire and smoke.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and efiicient brooder in which a thorough ventilation may be maintained without danger of noxious drafts.

A further oltject of the invention is to produce a brooder of simple and inexpensive construction having annular partitions, whereby it is subdivided into chambers or zones of various temperature, enabling the young chicks to find the most congenial temperature.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and eflicient brooder having a hot water heating device which is associated with the detachable lid of the brooder, said heating device comprising an annular water tank, the'contents of which may be retained in aheated stateaby means of a cylinder of concrete or other suitable material, previously highly heated and placed within said annular tank, so that all parts of the brooder shall be conveniently accessible when the lid is detached.

With these and other ends in view which will readilyappear as the. nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the improved construction and novel arrangement and combination of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrateda. simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of the claims may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawings,-Figure 1 is a top plan view of a brooder constructed in accordance with the invention, showing the same I I Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 9, 1912. Serial No. 730,438.

Patented J an. 5, 1915.

with a chicken run associated therewith. Fig. 2 1s a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 22 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of thebrooder showing also the lid detached and inverted. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken through the brooder on the line 4.4 in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line 55 in Fig. 2.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like characters of reference.

The improved brooder is preferably of circular.contour, this shape being preferred mainly on account of the facility with which a brooder of proper dimensions may be inexpensively manufactured. It embodies in its construction a base 1 on which is supported a wall member consisting of :i circular hoop 2, said wall member or hoop being suitably secured upon the base. The wall member is preferably provided with a lining 3 of felt, textile fabric or other suitable material, and the wall is provided adjacent to the base with vent open ngs 4 communicat ng with the lower ends of tubes or ducts 5 that are secured interiorly upon the wall member and the lower ends of which abut upon the base, while their upper ends terminate a short distance below the upper edge of the wall memberto permit air to circulate freely 'therethrough. Exit openings '6 are -formed in the wall member near the upper edge thereof through which foul and vitiated air may escape. I

The brooder is provided with a conical lid 7 which is detachably supported on the top edge of the wall member, said lid being preferably provided with a downwardly extend ng annular flange 8 fitting snugly within the wall 'member so as to retain the lid securelv in position when adjusted. Secured firmly'u'pon the underside of the lid adjacent to the apex thereof is a tank 9 having an annular water space 10 surrounding a circular chamber 11 in which a heating core'or radiator 12 may be accommodated. Said heating core or radiator consists preferably of a cylindrical block made of concrete or cement composition or other suitable material which may be previously heated in an oven or by exposure to a fire and which when thus heated is placed in the circular chamber 11 for the purpose of maintaining the temperature of the upwardly from the annular water space,

and a detachable cover 14 is provided for the chamber 11. The parts are made of such dimensions that when the lid is placed in position. the bottom of the tank will be suiilciently elevated above the floor or base of the breeder to permit young chicks to pass freely. beneath the tank. it is advisable that the distance between the floor of the breeder and the bottom of'the tank be between four and five inches. 7

The lid is provided with a plurality of apertures 15 which may be obstructed by hingedly supported windows 16 through which the contents of the brooder may be conveniently observed and which will also serve to afi'ord access to various parts thereof. The lid is also provided with a bail or handle 17, whereby it may be conveniently detached and replaced.

The wall member of the brooder is provided with a suitably located door opening 18 which may be obstructed by a slide 19 and through which it may be placed in communication with a coop or chicken run 20 constructed mainly of wire netting, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. v

The lid is provided on its underside with a plurality of supporting members, such as hooks 21, arranged in annularseries and which will serve for the attachment of flexible partition members or curtains which are of such dimensions as to approximately reach the floor or base of the coop,'said curtains or partition members being provided with numerous slits 23.

In the use of the improved brooder the water space of the tank may be filled with water of any desired temperature, cold in summer and hot in winter for the purpose of establishing by radiation a proper degree of temperaturewithin the brooder. In hot weather the effects may be made more lasting by placing ice within the chamber 11; in cold weather the core or radiator 12 which has been previously heated, is placed in the chamber 11, thus maintaining the contents of the tank at a proper temperature for a considerable period. The partition members or curtains 22 depending within the breeder will serve to establish a plurality of zones of various temperature, the

zone nearest the tank partaking most nearly of the temperature thereof, as will be readily understood, and the young chicks that are placed in the brooder will natu- 'allygravitate to the zone where the temperature is most convenient, passage from one zone to another being easily etl'ccted by reason of the slits in the partition curtains. The ventilation may be regulated by placing corks or stoppers in some of the vent openings i and (3, as indicated at 21.

The improved breeder, as will be seen from the foregoing description, is simple in construction and capable of being manufactured at a moderate cost, and it has prov'en in actual practice to be thoroughly ellicient for the purposes for which it is intended, keeping the chicks in a temperature suited to their requirements, and enabling them to circulate freely and to seek for themselves the most suitable temperature.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. In a breeder, the combination with a chamber having a circular wall, of a detachable conical lid supported on the wall, said lid having a annular tank fixedly connected therewith and depending from the apex thereof, said tank being provided with a lilling tube, and the inner wall of said tank constituting a container in which a radiator may be placed, and a separate detachable lid for said radiator container.

In a brooder, the combination with a chamber having a circular wall, of a detachable lid supported on said wall, a heater depending from the top portion of said lid and terminating within a distance of the bottom of the chamber to permit chicks to pass thereunder, and a plurality oi flexible annular partition members lixedly connected with the lid surrounding the heater in concentric series, extending don nwardly to the bottom oi the chamber and having slits for the passage of chicks, said partitions constituting circular zones of varying diameter according to their distance from the central heater.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN T. SHOWALTER. \Vitnesses D. \V. QUIMBY, C. J. GAnvnn. 

